24-08-29 PHOTOS: Susquehanna Piers

With all the infrastructure money now sloshing about, many landmark structures up and down and NEC are in danger of replacement and this includes the PRR Susquehanna River Bridge between Havre De Grace and Perryville, MD. When I caught wind that piers from an earlier 19th century span were marked for demolition as part of the project, I got my butt down there to get whatever photographs that I could ( mirror ). Also included are some photos of some trips to DC on MARC and WMATA.

The current bridge was built in 1906, replacing an earlier wooden truss span, later upgraded to iron, that opened in 1866. The 19th century bridge was converted to a road bridge before being closed in 1940 when the current US 40 double through truss bridge replaced it. The granite for the 1866 piers were quarried in nearby Port Deposit.

The north end of the bridge is part of PERRY interlocking that represents the junction with the former Conrail Port Road Branch that continues to provide freight access to the lower NEC. Here a southbound Acela trainset with power cars #2035 and #2039 pass under PERRY's northbound signal bridge.

Here a northbound Amtrak Regional train with ACS-86 #635 passes through the Susquehanna Bridge's swing span. Port Deposit was home to a shipyard which closed in the 1980's making bridge openings much less frequent. Today the swing span is non-interlocked and requires a track crew to unbolt the rails to enable movement.

Since the closure of the Perryville Veterans Administration complex, the road under the northernmost span has been closed, but pedestrians can get an up close view of the Eye-bar based truss system.

The demolition barge was working the south side of the river. The new span will actually be to the north of the present one, so the reason given for the demolition of the historic piers was "environmental remediation". There were 11 19th century piers in total and I am sure their removal helped create "jobs".

Here we see ACS-86 #611 crossing the bridge with a southbound Regional.

Another view of the central swing span. It's height makes openings very infrequent.

Here, northbound Amtrak Regional Train #146 crosses the 1902 replacement span over the Susquehanna River, taking the Clear 2N signal at PERRY interlocking. This was followed by northbound Amtrak Silver Star Train #92 hauled by Veterans ACS-86 #642. Trains crossing the bridge make an enchanting rumble that a modern replacement will be unlikely to replicate.





I was unfortunately caught in a bad position to get good video of a double headed southbound Amtrak Silver Meteor Train 97 as it crossed the bridge with ACS-86 #614 and #617, meeting northbound Carolinian Train 80 in the process.



The south end of the bridge was located directly adjacent to GRACE interlocking where the 2-track bridge expanded back to 4 tracks. Amtrak moved GRACE about half a mile to the south due to the risk of Chase, MD style accidents taking place on the bridge span.

It will be interesting to see if the chief engineers get their name on the new bridge, or just the politicians who arranged the funding.

That's all for the Susquehanna River Bridge, but I also have some additional DC transit photos from a work trip. On Day 1 I parked at Greenbelt catching 6k car #6042 in to the city and returning on 7k car #7706.

The next day I took MARC, but didn't manage any inbound photos. Returning my train had cab car #7856 and MP36PH-3C locomotive #15.

On the adjacent track #9 was single level cab car #7761 and MP36PH-3C's #25 and #27.

On the last day it was back to the DC Metro with #7350 inbound from Greenbelt and #7272 back.

At some point in the month I was picking someone up from BWI and caught Amtrak ACS-86 #665 at BWI along with some center track action with northbound Cardinal Train #50 and evening Acela Train #2174. 

Also while heading out to Pittsburgh I stopped for dinner in Frederick and caught the 720pm arriving MARC Brunswick Line train with MP36PH-3C leading and split level cab car #8055 after sunset.

I hope you liked the photos. Next week I'll be taking advantage of NJT's free transit promotion as I head to get photos in Metutchen, NJ.

24-08-24 PHOTOS: Washington Terminal

Typically when one railfans in Washington, DC proper that means something to do with Washington Union Terminal or the DC Metro. However one might be surprised to learn that there are in fact a few other railfan locations in the city and in the late summer of 2024 I took the day to hang out with a friend and visit as many as was feasible, getting plenty of photos along the way ( mirror ).

The initial stop after arriving at Union Station was the southern end of the First St tunnels that allow passenger trains to proceed to and from points south of the city via the former RF&P and Southern Main Lines. The First Street Tunnel tunnels under the literal Capitol Hill via the First St right of way before turning slightly at the southern portal. At the portal I managed to catch Amtrak Regional Train 82 lead by the ultimate P42DC, #207.

Moving to a slightly different photo position I managed to south southbound Carolinian Train 79 with P42DC #144. The B&O style position light signals mark the start of K TOWER's territory and are likely mounted on poles that date to the 1908 opening of the station.

The passenger tracks to Union Station rejoin the old PRR freight route to Potomac Yard at VIRGINIA tower, located near 2nd St and E.

While there I found myself somewhat out of position to catch a southbound CSX freight train lead by CM44AC rebuild #7209.

The next stop was the L'Enfant Plaza VRE station where I was in time to catch Amtrak P42DC #77 bringing Regional Train 153 south out of Union Station.

Even though VRE doesn't run on weekends there is plenty of Amtrak and CSX traffic to keep one busy. In my case Regional Train 88 appeared not long after with P42DC #117 leading.

The next location was near the WMATA Rhode Island Ave station on the Red Line. Passing Brentwood Yard en route I spotted the green painted WMATA track geometry car #GV01.

I also spotted a pair of squabs who seemed a bit too big for their nest, mugging one of their parents for food. I guess failure to launch isn't just a human thing.



For anyone who never got a chance to ride a WMATA 5000-series car, you still can at the Washington, DC Metrobar where #5058 has been converted into an eatery in the fashion of an old diner. Just follow the pedestrian walkway over the CSX Metropolitan Sub and you'll see it.

The next stop was Amtrak's Ivy City Yard, specifically WYE BRIDGE interlocking which is directly adjacent to a public road behind the DC Office of Film and Television. At Ivy City Amtrak stores all sorts of interesting equipment such as inspection car #10001 Beech Grove, Theatre Car #10004, Catenary Measurement Car #10005 and the Acela Track Geometry car #10003.

WYE BRIDGE is one of a handful of interlockings on non-revenue trackage, but compared to others in New York and Boston, it is much easier to photograph. The name comes from the bridge carrying the CSX Metropolitan Sub, which also completes the north leg of a conceptual wye between the old B&O F and QN towers that provide access to Washington Union Terminal.

All train movements between the Washington Union Terminal station tracks and Ivy City storage yard/engine terminal/shoppes must pass through WYE BRIDGE. Here we see a cut of lite engines, including ALC42 #342, #344 and P42DC #111 reversing to the engine facility from Amtrak's own turning wye.

My goal that day was to catch Amtrak Capitol Limited Train 29 as it reversed out of the yard and to its customary birth on Track 15 or Track 16. It had already been announced that Trains 29 and 30 would be replaced by Miami to Chicago through train #40/41 under the Floridian name.

The Capitol Limited had already been reduced to a 4-5 car consist due to equipment availability pressures. Today ALC42 #341 was the sole source of motive power.

An interesting detail is that trains traveling between WYE BRIDGE and Union Terminal have to travel through the MARC storage yard.

Walking back to Union Station from Ivy City, the 9th St bridge provides an excellent view of the Ivy City shoppe and engine terminal complex.

A pair of Next Gen Acelas were stashed in the back lot along with a red faced P42C cab car conversion.

The 9th St Bridge also provides a nice overhead view of the NEC. Here we see Acela power car #2031 on the tail end of a northbound departure.

I was running low on time before my departure so I decided to use the WMATA to get from New York Ave to Union Station. On the platform I was treated to a pair 3k series cars #3185 and #3128.

My MARC Penn Line train was departing from track #8. Kawasaki cab car #7851 was sitting by uncoupled at the buffer stop as some sort of spare.

MARC MP36PH-3C #34 in the Union Station MARC yard.

After a full day and 5-7 miles of walking I wound up back where I started at the BWI Airport Rail Station.

That's all for this week. Check back next time as I poke around both ends of Amtrak's Susquehanna River Bridge.